My Beloved Consort - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“What? They’ve made peace?”

In the tiny inn out in the middle of nowhere, I slapped the table so hard it cracked and groaned, teetering on the verge of collapse.

Plump Auntie, sitting across from me, looked positively pained. She hurried to stop me. “Yes. Three years ago, in fact. All of Feiyun Pavilion’s outposts in the Qi Kingdom were withdrawn too. You didn’t know?”

I did not know!

I roared inwardly.

Feiyun Pavilion was an intelligence organization secretly established by the court of the Li Kingdom. The organization selected suitable candidates, trained and cultivated them, then planted them in other countries as spies to eavesdrop on state secrets.

And I, Nie Weichun, was the Chief Spy of Feiyun Pavilion. Ever since I infiltrated the Qi Kingdom seven years ago, I had spent three years capturing the Crown Prince’s heart, then one year becoming the Crown Prince’s Favorite Consort.

After that, I spent three straight years sending intelligence back to the organization.

Conscientious, diligent, and never daring to slack off.

I was truly a model spy of the modern age.

If the emperor of the Qi Kingdom had not suddenly passed away, forcing the Crown Prince Shen Shen to ascend the throne in a hurry-and if he had not, with one grand wave of his hand, declared that he wanted to make me Empress-I never would have panicked and rashly come to this outpost.

After all, I had never done anything that might expose my identity before.

But I was anxious!

Back when I came to the Qi Kingdom, my superiors only told me to lurk by the Crown Prince’s side. They never said anything about making me become Empress…

If I were just some insignificant little nobody, I could fake my death and slip away later. Easy.

But once I became Empress, getting out in one piece would be a whole lot harder!

Now, sitting in this run-down little inn, I felt as though the sky itself had gone gray.

Just like my life.

The Li Kingdom and the Qi Kingdom had always been at each other’s throats. How had they suddenly made peace?

Fine, they made peace. But why did no one tell me?

Fine, no one told me… No, actually, that was not fine. Sooner or later, I was going back to settle accounts.

Then I started blaming myself. I had been living far too happily on ordinary days-listening to little tunes, admiring little flowers, and when I had nothing to do, taking a couple of strolls through Shen Shen’s study to pick out some useful information to send out.

And what was the result? I did not even know that the two kingdoms had made peace? What a dereliction of duty!

Nie Weichun, you are no longer a qualified spy.

Two streams of bitter tears slid down my cheeks.

Plump Auntie cried, “Oh dear, don’t cry! Perhaps the organization simply forgot to notify you. I’ll send a message back and ask about it. I promise they’ll make proper arrangements for you!”

With tears streaming down my face, I grabbed her hand. “Please hurry.”

The grand ceremony to confer me as Empress was next month. I was very, very anxious.